thoughts

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Perfect In The Moment

Have you ever been perfect? I don’t mean getting a perfect score on an exam – you just have to study hard to know the answers. I mean, have you ever done something perfectly?

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Maybe you assembled a BBQ and there were no extra parts left over. You marvelled over your feat … but that doesn’t really count if you had the instructions in front of you.

To be perfect in that, you would have to put the BBQ together with all the parts in the right place and nothing left over, WITHOUT using the instructions.

Now that would be perfect. It would also be impossible.

Being perfect is actually doing the impossible.  We are not perfect people; we all have some flaw … some more than others. But perfect we are not.

So when you find yourself being perfect, it does cause you to pause and cherish the moment, because it probably won’t ever happen again.

I’m telling you this because I was perfect a couple of weeks ago. It was just for a moment; it was over in a flash.

I didn’t even realize I was perfect until three days after my great accomplishment. In fact, I was already not perfect again by the time I found out I was perfect.

Have I got you hypnotized yet? Well let me tell you how it all happened.

I’m in a football pool. It’s not a high stakes, money laundering, loan sharking, football pool. It’s just for fun. No money at stake, the winner just gets the satisfaction of winning.

All we do is pick the winning teams from about 13 different football games each week. Oh ya, and they’re from three different leagues: US college games, NFL games and CFL games.

This pool has been going for the past nine years. And in the words of the league secretary, “… never before – not once – in our history has a franchise owner had a perfect weekend during the regular season. We’ve had 1 loss and plenty of 2 loss weekends, but NEVER HAS ANYONE HAD A PERFECT WEEKEND” (emphasis mine).

That’s right, I was perfect that weekend! I picked all the winners that week. And I did this with no manual, no insider information, not even a secret formula.

It was all pure luck – I mean, perfection.

I have to tell you, I felt pretty special for about 30 seconds after I read the announcement in my email. But I was alone at the time so I just got back to working on my sermon or something.

But as perfect as I was for that brief moment, my son was able to bring me down with a few words: “Dad you should have bought a sports lottery ticket. With those picks you would have won a lot of money.”

So what if I could have made millions, well, maybe thousands? What’s really important is I was perfect for that moment. No one can take it from me, and it probably won’t happen again.

Here’s the thing: Those times when you encounter God in a truly special way, in a way that only He can bring about, cherish those moments. Remember them. You’ll be able to find encouragement in them when you’ve lost your motivation. Those moments will give you strength to continue in times of difficulty. Supernatural times when God is so close and personal may not come every day, but they will always be crystal clear in your mind.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What encounter have you had with God that you will never forget? Leave your comment below.

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How Blocked Shots Prevent Success

I went to a hockey game last night – it was an OHL game between the Kingston Frontenacs and the Owen Sound Attack.

New Jersey Devils v Philadelphia Flyers

You might think by their name that the team from Owen Sound was on the attack all night. But the opposite was true. Kingston had double the shots on goal and the play was decidedly in the Owen Sound end. It was like Kingston was on the attack for much of the night.

However, in the end Kingston lost in overtime. The Fronts outplayed the Attack and outshot them too, but they couldn’t outscore them … and in the end, that’s what counts.

The difference seemed to be all in the Owen Sound zone. They were on the defence for sure, but what they did on defence was pretty remarkable.

They blocked shots like a mother hen protecting her babies from the attack of a wolf. The Owen Sound players not only got their sticks in the way, but their legs and bodies too. I’m sure that Kingston might have had double the shots if it hadn’t have been for the Owen Sound defenders.

It must have been frustrating for our boys. They would come down and make a nice rush only to have a shot go off a player’s left shin pad and miss the net entirely.

I’ve preached sermons like that where I thought I had a great message. I was all excited about giving it. I had great illustrations, my points flowed together beautifully. But in the end, I felt like the congregation left with a shrug of their shoulders.

There was something missing, something that was preventing the message from getting through to the people and I didn’t know what it was.

It took me a few weeks, but I figured it out. There was something blocking the Holy Spirit from penetrating the hearts of the people in church. They were just getting my words, but no power that comes from the Holy Spirit.

My words weren’t making it through to the hearts of the congregation.

In the game last night, it was easy to tell that the Fronts needed to get more clean shots on the goalie. But that is something that will take some time to perfect. They will have to do drills and practice moving the puck around to get an open player a clean shot.

In the case of my sermon, it is just a matter of prayer, and continual prayer, for God to remove blockages and distractions so that the Holy Spirit’s power can work in hearts.

Here’s the thing: There may be times when you hear a sermon, or spend time with God and nothing seems to be getting through. It’s dull, routine, boring, and you may even be distracted.  That’s a good time to pray for God to remove Satan’s blockage so that the Holy Spirit can work in you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you felt that your good work has come up against a blockage? Leave your comments below.

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Embarrassment Can Last Forever

I’m sure everyone, at some point, has wanted to kick themselves for something they did or said.  For many of us, this happens rather frequently … too frequently for my liking.

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I remember entering a Sunday School class when I was in my teens and making a snide remark about the teacher, thinking he wasn’t there yet … only to hear the teacher respond. At that moment, I wanted to take my words back.

As I recall, I didn’t remain in the class for the whole lesson that Sunday.

Then there was the time I was with a bunch of friends on a bus and I saw a man burning leaves on his front lawn. I yelled some comment out to the man which, in the moment, I thought was quite witty.

But all my friends thought it was lame – I mean really lame! I was pretty embarrassed at that moment, and every once in a while, even 40 years later, I still feel like kicking myself for making that comment.

The times we stick our foot in our mouth – or do something so dumb that the actors of “Dumb and Dumber 2” would be embarrassed for us – stay with us and its hard to forget them.

But the worst are the times we say or do things that hurt someone else. Those are the worst because it’s about more than just being mortified or humiliated; you’ve caused someone pain as a result.

By the time you’re in your 50’s, you’d think those days would be over. When the person is a loved one, like a daughter, you’d think this couldn’t happen.

But it did happen with me the other day. I was in a meeting … a prayer meeting. Four of us had grouped together and shared some personal things we wanted prayer for.

I was just about to pray for my daughter Karlie – in fact, the first few words had come out of my mouth – when my phone started to ring.

I know, you’re supposed to turn your phone off in the movies, services and prayer meetings. Well I hadn’t, and my ringer is a funky piano tune.

I panicked and went for my phone, quickly swiping my finger across the screen and answering it.

Of course being in a prayer meeting I couldn’t talk loudly, so I quietly said, “Hang on; I’m in a meeting,” as I moved to an exit.

That’s right, I left praying for my daughter to answer a phone call!

I was kicking myself all the way to the exit. And I’ve been kicking myself ever since!

How could someone do that? How could I do that? What message did I send my daughter in that moment?

I know this is one of those moments that I will cringe about every time I think of it … for years! You can’t take your actions back; you can’t undo what’s been done.

All I could do is say, “I’m sorry, Karlie. I panicked and did the wrong thing. Will you forgive me?”

Here’s the thing:  When we sin, that memory can linger with us and Satan can use it against us to discourage us, to make us too embarrassed to go to God with it. But the best thing, the only thing we should do, is confess our sin to God and move on from there. You can’t take it back. You might not even be able to forget it, but it doesn’t have to keep you from restoring your relationship with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s one of your most embarrassing moments and what did you do about it?  Leave your comment below.

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Why You Need To Start Something Gradually

There are some weird things about how our bodies work.

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You know how you can be fine one day and wake up the next morning and have a pain that wasn’t there the day before? You can’t put your finger on where it came from; it just showed up in your body … like Canada Post delivering the mail – you never know when it’s going to arrive.

But that’s nothing! I once went into the hospital to have an operation on my nose. It had suffered a little hockey damage and needed a tuck here, opening of the passageway there, kind of thing.

Anyway, when I came to after the operation, I had the worst charlie horse in my right thigh that I’ve ever had. I had to check to see if they had taken some tissue from my thigh and strapped it onto my nose.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any noticeable thigh parts in or around the centre of my face. But when I was leaving the hospital I had a little cast on my nose and a major limp in my walk. It wasn’t pleasant.

Then there was this week. I was playing ball hockey at our pastors’ retreat and, though my favourite position is centre in front of the other team’s goalie, I felt I needed to run a little to show my team I wanted to help out.

Near the end of the game I could feel my muscles starting to react to the running. An hour later, I was walking like a 75 year old who rode horses for a living until he was 65!

I was thinking, “It’s not like I haven’t used my legs. I play hockey regularly. I try to walk about 10,000 steps a day. Why all this muscle pain?”

But that was nothing! The next day I was worse – just thinking of having to walk up or down a flight of stairs sent me into a panic attack and looking for someone to piggyback me.

To say my muscles were barking is an understatement. It was like every muscle from my waist down was in agony; even the muscles in my feet were yelping. And getting up after sitting for a while threw all of them into creating a symphony of pain.

The pain was there the next day too, and even three days later I was avoiding all stairs if I could help it.

How could a little running up and down a gym floor generate all the pain that it did? It just didn’t make sense to me.

Well, it’s called lactic acid build up. I needed it to help me exercise but I produced too much and it couldn’t all be burned off. I had acidosis. It sounds like a contagious disease – I felt like quarantining myself to flat surfaces only.

The preventive measure is to ease into exercise, pace yourself, and do a cool down. Other things that help are water, diet and sleep.

… Lot of help that does me knowing that after the fact!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we get energized to develop our devotional life with God, and so we go hard at it with big plans and commitments. What happens then is we get a dose of spiritual acidosis and we then back right off. Instead, take it slow, warm up with a short time with God, and build up to longer sessions of spiritual exercise.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you recovered when you’ve stopped your time with God? Leave your comment below.

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What Fall And Taxes Have In Common

Well, it’s late fall and you know what that means . . . winter is coming soon. Well, for most people that’s what it means. For me, it means running around and gathering information to send to Revenue Canada.

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It seems that every year or so at this time I’m politely asked to explain some of the deductions on my income tax.

I know it’s kind of late in the year. I submitted my tax return in March, received my notice of return back in April, and now in November I get a letter saying “wait a minute, we’d like to see some documentation to support your claim”.

I’ve had my refund for months. It’s pretty much been dispersed by now to savings, vacation and my children’s support fund.

That’s right, my kids are in their twenties but it doesn’t mean I’m not still doling out cash to them when needed.

Anyway, the revenue department usually wants to see my charitable receipts. They want to make sure I have receipts to back up my claim.

Coming up with receipts is not the problem, but because I claim receipts for previous years, I have to send them all the receipts I’m claiming and have claimed in those previous years. It is an aggravation I could really do without!

But this year is different. They want proof that I still have a son in university to claim his tuition.  Though he’s taking his sweet time finishing his degree, I don’t think 23 is an unlikely age for a son to still be wandering down the hallowed halls of higher education.

It’s an easy response – just one form to send in and I have it all ready to go. It’s the other request that bugs me: they want me to prove my claim for travel.

At one time a pastor would live beside the church and only have to walk next door. For that matter, his whole parish might be within walking distance and he wouldn’t have to drive his car very much.

But we live in the 21st century. I have appointments, meetings, visits, conferences, things to pick up, all that take place around the city and beyond … of course I use my car for work!

But the problem is they want all the receipts categorized, all my kilometres driven, and those that were driven for work, including the purpose of the mileage.

I have all that info, but it’s a pain to have to organize it all the way they want it.

Sometimes I wonder why they go after me so often. Every single time I’ve given them the documentation they asked for and it’s satisfied them.

But I have to remember it’s not some six foot, 250 pound, middle-aged man with dark grey hair and thick curly eyebrows stewing over my tax form. It’s some mainframe computer without a brain that spits out requests based on the number of 7’s or something I used in my tax return.

Next year I’m rounding everything up or down to eliminate those 7’s!

Here’s the thing: Occasionally, I don’t want to take the time to spend time with God because other things are pressing, or I’m in a hurry. Time with God then feels like an inconvenience – like having to send documents to Revenue Canada. If I keep delaying that I will be penalized. And if I make excuses for not spending time with God, I will miss out on what He has for me that day.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What gets in your way of spending time with God? Leave your comment below.

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A Hockey Game To Remember

I went to a hockey game with my son the other day and realized just how much genetics and upbringing shape and mould us.

father son hockey

I remember growing up thinking that I was pretty unique, like there was no one identical to me. I was pretty naive back then – maybe suffering from an “I am special” complex that I’m sure annoyed some people … especially my parents and siblings.

But early in my twenties, I began to notice that I wasn’t all that “special” in the way I thought, in what I liked and disliked, in some of my habits, and in my choices.

I also noticed that my parents had lots of traits that I have; they were a lot like me. My first thought was, “They must be special too!”

But you know, just coming out of my teen years when I knew everything, I was quite conscious of the fact that they weren’t all that special … which left me with the realization that maybe I wasn’t all that special either.

Over the years I’ve realized that a part of what I am like is a direct result of being the procreation of Don and Helen. And then, added to that, a large part of who I am is also a result of growing up in an environment with them.

My genetics may determine how I process information, but my upbringing has shaped the angle,  view, or perspective from which I start to process that information.

When you think about it, our heritage – biological and environmental – has a huge part to play in us.

I was thinking about that when my son and I were talking together at the hockey game. He’s about the age now that I was at when I started to realize some of these things.

Our conversation uncovered how the pattern that formed who I am, is the same pattern that has been shaping him.

I understand some of the struggles he’s gone through … I could share similar stories from my days being in my twenties. There were times when we knew what each other was thinking.

We were both comfortable being in a hockey arena and also reflecting on the game and reminiscing about games we’ve played.

From the time he was little we’ve been watching sports together, especially hockey. When he was really little, in some fanciful way, he thought I played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, even though we would watch the first period together on TV … in Edmonton.

He’s developed a love for hockey and many sports probably because it has been part of his environment and was encouraged in our home growing up.

He even learned to share my love for the Toronto Maple Leafs … No, sorry, that’s genetic.

Here’s the thing: The goal of a Christian is to become more like Christ. Part of that is genetics, because we are made in His image. But a large part of that has to do with the environment we live in. If you are going to be transformed more into the likeness of Christ, you need to make sure your environment will produce those kinds of results. That means being around those who are ahead of you in the transformation process, and it will mean developing the habits and thinking of Christ which we find in His word. To become more like Christ, arrange your environment so that you come under that maximum influence of the Son of God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you arranged your environment to come under the influence of Christ? Leave your comment below.

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You Need Purpose On Your Day Off

Have you ever worked hard for a week or more, and been in desperate need of a day off?

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When you finally get that well-deserved day off, there is a tendency to want to do nothing, to not plan, not initiate, not schedule.

And that’s probably the worst thing you can do.

We all need rest from our work. We need time to recharge our batteries, to get ourselves ready to face work again. But so many times we approach a day off with the wrong kind of thinking.

We want to distance ourselves from anything that reminds us of work, like making a to-do list, or completing a to-do list, or even putting things down on a schedule for the day.

We want to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, and just float through the day being pushed by the wind.

… It sounds nice in theory, but it’s the worst thing you could do on your day off – your precious day off.

You see, if you do that, by the end of the day you’ll feel frustrated that you wasted your day.

The next morning you’ll be wishing you had another day off because you won’t be ready to go back to work. You’ll feel like you didn’t accomplish anything on your day off …  which is precisely what you set out to do!

The problem is that we are not mindless and ambition-less. We were made to do things, and built to have purpose – even if it is purpose for a day off.

God has created us with a purpose. Purpose is in our DNA.

We can fight having a purpose – and many people do on their day off – but you’ll have a subconscious frustration that forms a pattern you can’t seem to break out of. It becomes habit-forming.

I remember when I was in high school I would sleep in on Saturdays. I thought I liked sleeping in like that. But at one point I realized that I would wake up a little frustrated, slightly cranky, when I would get up at around 12:30 or 1 pm.

It dawned on me that deep down I felt like I was wasting a good portion of the day.

That’s when I made a big change. … But getting up early was not the only thing I needed.

I also needed a plan of what to do, or else I would still diddle my day away.

When I’ve planned my day off and executed it, I feel better, and the next day I’m rejuvenated. All I need is a little purpose in my day off.

That means coming up with a plan, a schedule and action. The difference between that and work is that you do what you are interested in, what will bring some joy, fulfillment, and a sense of accomplishment.

That’s why this morning, on my day off, I’m making a plan of how my day will be filled with purpose.

Here’s the thing: If you are going to keep growing in your relationship with God, then you are going to have to be purposeful in that as well. Take some time to plan and schedule when you will meet with Him. Don’t let days, weeks or months go by in subconscious frustration knowing you should meet with God. Make a plan, put it in your schedule and implement it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What makes planning on your day off difficult for you? Leave your comment below.

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Why You Can’t Trust the News

Lately I’ve been bugged by the news. Actually, I’m regularly bugged by the news. My son says “Why do you even watch the news? It’s so negative and depressing.” And he’s not wrong in that.

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The news media claim that they are reporting the facts, which is true. They do. But they also add their political bias and even religious spin to it, which actually skews the facts to be something other than fact.

Years ago I had some blood work done and when the doctor gave me the report he was a little puzzled. He told me that they couldn’t calculate my bad cholesterol because my triglycerides were so high.

Let me say that again in words I understand: There was junk in my blood that prevented the lab from being able to decipher what my true bad cholesterol count was.

Relating that to what the newsmakers do, they mix their junk in with the facts so that you can’t really tell what the facts are.

I realize that this isn’t anything new. It’s been going on for a long time. All the while, the news media defend their right to inform us, the public, of the truth … except we are not getting the truth – their triglycerides are too high!

I don’t like how they slant their stories against the government, or Christian religion. But when you get such a steady diet of the same spin, you begin to take their word as normal, it’s the way it is.

It’s just like me and my blood test. I didn’t feel bad; I couldn’t tell my blood wasn’t in good shape.  I needed someone to look at it and tell me there was something wrong there.

However, it’s pretty difficult to convince the newsmakers that there is something preventing us from getting the facts and that something is their political and religious views … I just call them their triglycerides.

Recently when we had the shooting on Parliament Hill, the news – and even some politicians – were quick to give us the facts: there was a shooting; it was a terrorist attack. They even figured out how the gunman did it.

But then we were told over and over that this attack was ideologically and politically motivated.

We were assured that this was not connected to religion or religiously motivated at all.  However, the gunman had converted to Islam, and according to the RCMP commissioner, had recorded a video before the shooting in which he made remarks about Allah and expressed Jihadist views.

News correspondents, media personnel, and even one of our national party leaders, have gone out of their way to defend Islam as a peaceful religion, stating there is nothing in the Quran that would insight violence.

My first thought is that these people are just ignorant, and are not doing the proper investigation. They are going on what they have been told.

… You know, I didn’t realize that the things I was eating were causing my triglycerides to rise in my blood. But when I found out, I did something about it.

What our media is doing is ignoring the fact that their triglycerides are high, reporting skewed facts to us anyway. And that’s not ignorance, that’s manipulation.

Here’s the thing: Your number one source for growth in your relationship with the Lord should be your Bible. You see, God the Holy Spirit directed and guided the writers of the scriptures. We can be confident that what we have is what God wanted to give us. Everything else comes with some “triglycerides” added. Use those as second sources, not first.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you use to help you in your quiet time with God? Leave your comment below.

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Some Jobs Are Just Plain Fun 

The other day I got a taste of one of the few outdoor jobs I don’t mind doing.

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My grass needed to be cut – probably for the last time this year. But before I cranked up my Briggs & Stratton engine, I needed to clean up the leaves that had fallen off our tree.

I used to hate that chore, but I don’t mind it now because I have a power leaf collector.  The thing is awesome! – you should have one too.

Even if you don’t have a tree in your yard – or a tree on your street for that matter – you need to have one of these babies! Hey, the wind blows in the fall and leaves can come to your address from far away and land on your lawn … I’m just saying.

What this leaf collector does is it sucks the leaves up like a big vacuum cleaner (only much cooler) and then it cuts the leaves in little pieces so they take up less space and can be compacted easier. See? … Awesome, right?

In the old days, I would rake the leaves. It was such a tedious job, I couldn’t handle it.

But there’s nothing like having a motor strapped to my side, that’s producing a deafening 75-90 db (decibels) of pure suction power, to give me a bounce in my step, a spring in my stride.

I know I’m not the only one who enjoys collecting their dead leaves this way. When one of my neighbours saw me using mine for the first time, he went out and bought one too.

And the guy that lives across the street from me, well … the other day he sucked up every – I mean EVERY – leaf from his lawn! It took him hours, but he looked like he was enjoying himself.

And the lawn looked like a carpet when he was finished.

We have lots of leaves still on our tree so I know my job isn’t finished for the year. Besides that, there are the trees across the street, and all those leaves blow my way.

I’ll be busy burning out my ear drums, and filling up bags of leaves for the leaf collection guys, like I was being paid to do it. … I can see me doing this when I’m 90 and have to ride on one of those little three-wheeled scooters!

In the meantime, I’m spreading the love around because, while I wait for all my leaves to fall off my tree, some of them are blowing onto my next door neighbour’s yard.

He will probably be buying one of these lawn vacuum cleaners soon.

Here’s the thing: What can keep you growing with God is finding a tool or study method you really enjoy. It could be a set of questions you ask yourself about a Bible passage or even a special place you go to spend some time with God. When you find something that you enjoy, milk it for all its worth and enjoy a rich experience with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found enjoyable about your time with God? Leave your comment below.

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The Challenge Of Deadlines

Every one has deadlines that they have to meet. No matter if it’s highly pressurized, like getting a school paper in on time, or just renewing your driver’s license by your birthdate, we all have deadlines to meet.

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Some people are able to go a long time before they have to meet a deadline; others have deadlines to meet on an ongoing basis.

When I was in school, I thought I had a lot of deadlines. Each class had plenty, so it seemed I had to meet a new deadline every couple of weeks.

When I was done, I had hoped to be free from the pressure of regular deadlines. But I chose the wrong profession because, as a pastor, I have deadlines every week.

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t feel the pressure of having a sermon done by Sunday.  And though someone once said to me, “I thought you just got up there and talked”, it actually takes me all week to be ready to speak.

And there are other deadlines to meet, that I need to schedule for.

But the most pressurized deadlines are those you haven’t planned for, that you can’t plan for. They just appear out of nowhere.

It’s like the tree in my front yard. I saw the leaves turning colour and was really enjoying them. But then one day, out of the blue, those beautiful, coloured leaves started falling off the tree in rapid succession – no warning, just a pile of leaves that needed to be picked up.

When I get those random, unexpected deadlines, the pressure is turned up and some things that don’t have a time limit get put to the side to make room for those new deadlines.

That was the scenario that occurred in my life this past week. (The fact that you’re reading this tells you I survived, but I have to say that I’m hoping for a pretty quiet, restful day today!)

In the course of the week, there were many things that just got turfed to the sidelines. Some of those things included work that didn’t get done, personal time that didn’t materialize, even exercise that had to be put on hold. I had some early mornings and some late nights.

You just hunker down for what has to get done and you let everything else go.

But the most amazing thing about it is that now that it’s over, it doesn’t seem like it was that bad. You kind of forget what it was like … maybe so that you can cope with having to do it again some time.

It must be something like a woman giving birth. With all the pain they go through, you would wonder why a mother would agree to have a second child! But I guess when it’s all done, they just remember the good things – that precious little life that they see before them.

Well, I guess in some strange way, I am satisfied with how my week ended up, and I think more about that than I do all the pressure and work it took to bring it about.

Here’s the thing: We also face things in our lives that will apply pressure to our faith. Some of those things will come out of nowhere. You may find it extremely difficult to deal with, but tackle it with all your focus, because when you’ve come through, you will be able to handle another challenge to your faith when it comes.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you handle unexpected deadlines that come your way? Leave your comment below.